Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Soul Bar "The bet"

The brief was to promote (via viral email) Soul Bar's offer of a free glass of Laurent-Perrier Champagne for every girl who goes there in the month of October. The desired outcome was to ultimately increase bar sales and attract more people to Soul. The client specifically asked for a concept that was 'quirky, fun, flirtatious and bolshy' and targeted towards young women aged 18-35 working within the Auckland CBD. They fabricated an email conversation between a girl and her friend. It explained how a wealthy man made a bet with her at Soul the night before. He arrogantly wagered that if he couldn't get her to sleep with him, he'd buy Champagne for every girl who went to Soul for the following month. He lost, so his credit card was now sitting at Soul, waiting to be abused. The email also included a mobile-phone mpeg confirming the bet. They then briefed several female friends within the target market to forward it on to their girlfriends and work colleagues as if the story was true. Their concept was a perfect fit for this gossipy, corporate target market who are renowned for passing the time by sitting at their desks making idle email chit-chat with their female friends. What made it so relevant was that the email was not only scandalous, but it also invited them to get one over the arrogant, wealthy tossers they all know and loathe. It was inevitable that the opportunity to forward on such an email would be embraced with open arms, especially one that encourages them to interact with the story and rewards them with Free French Champagne. The email spread like wildfire, not only around New Zealand but internationally, much to the delight of the client and the intrigue of the media. Dozens of blogsites, local newspapers and even a national primetime current affairs show all took the bait. Thousands of girls showed up at Soul to claim their free glass of Champagne, all supposedly at the expense of our mystery man. Over 3,400 glasses were given away, nearly double the previous year's promo. Bar sales increased 34% on the previous year and Soul Bar achieved a massive 118% ROI on the total cost of the campaign.